why did my saggitaria stop growing?

fishcatch22

fishcatch22

The Picotoper
Jun 13, 2006
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Morris, Illinois
hey all, i've got a problem. my sag stopped/is VERY slowly growing. when I bought it from the LFS, it was coated in BG algae, so I had to cut off all the leaves at the roots and let it grow anew. it's about 2" tall right now. and so, i'm wondering, is it because I don't use ferts? all my other plants are growing up a storm. and if I should be using ferts, what's the best brand? or are sags just slow growers?
 
BG algae wipes off pretty easily.

I hear it's a sign that there is a lack of nitrates or maybe something else.

Which is bad for plants
 
What is your lighting?
 
1.5 WPG. I know that's fairly low, it's been growing perfectly fine in this light until now.
 
bump.
 
Sorry forgot. Your lighting is too low. The reason for it not growing too much anymore is because as the plant gets bigger it needs more lighting and nutrients. I think your sag is big enough that it is now using its energy to sustain itself and not grow. Plants allocate energy to where they need it most. When all other areas are good is when plants use most of their energy for growing. It might be slow growing from here on, unless you improve your lighting.

Low light setups don't really need ferts. They grow too slow to use all the ferts, so some say its a waste.

The WPG rule doesn't apply to 10 gallon tanks. You actually need more WPG than other tanks. I don't really know the scientific reason. Maybe someone else can explain it.
 
Zen4t5 said:
The WPG rule doesn't apply to 10 gallon tanks. You actually need more WPG than other tanks. I don't really know the scientific reason. Maybe someone else can explain it.
Click to expand...


I personally think that's a myth. At least in my experience it is.

I remember reading this in-depth article all about it too; this guy went on and on with all of these mathematical figures meant to show how the light dissipates and diffuses or what not. Had me thinking I was going to need like 8wpg to grow water sprite.

Very much proven wrong. Water sprite grew well, as did rotala under only 2wpg. And in my 2.5g betta tanks I have had cabomba, water sprite and rotala thrive in 4wpg. This is not even considering the crypts and java fern that were more than happy.

This article also claimed that you can get by with far fewer wpg in larger tanks, as it relates to the ratio in the smaller tanks by the opposite way. Yet in my 55, which receives 2.9wpg cabomba disintegrates and dwarf hairgrass died within weeks. Only hornwort and swords survive in that tank. (I haven't added crypts or java fern because it's an Amazon blackwater tank.) Though I'm pretty sure I'm very much limited to shady plants if I plan to have any of them planted in the substrate. I hope I never have to clean up mountains of cabomba corpse again.


Anyway, I don't care if someone wants to respond with flames. I stand by my assertion - watts per gallon is watts per gallon. It doesn't change its effectiveness due to the volume of a tank. Also, light intensity plays a big role. But that's another subject.

However, I am very much of the believe that the height of a tank makes an immense difference...and that is most likely why I lost my cabomba and hairgrass - the height of the 55g tank. Again, light intensity probably plays a factor. But I'll shut up now.

I leave it at this - a ten gallon tank with anything between 2.5 and 5wpg is a well equipped tank as far as lighting goes.
 
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well, there is no way I can have more than one bulb over my aquarium, so I guess i'll just wait for my saggitaria to grow the slow way. do they make higher watt bulbs for 10g hoods than just 15Ws?
 
A glass top and strip lights is the way to go, if you wanted to add more lighting.
 
not an option for me right now... i'm a self-funded teen in alaska, remember? set me back $45 just buying the hood.
 
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